Winter Olympics: Australian Matt Graham takes silver in moguls

Australia has its first medal of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics after skier and University of Newcastle student Matt Graham won silver in the moguls.

The world No.3 pumped his fist after passing the line before being awarded 82.57 points in the medal round on Monday night.

He was 4.06 points off Canadian great and gold medallist Mikael Kingsbury, who was second-last to make his final run.

"It's a lot of hard years come to fruition," Graham, 23, said.

"A whole life of hard work and it comes down to 25 seconds and one bad turn and it could all be over."

Top seed Daichi Hara of Japan was third with 82.19 points in the six-man super final, while for the second Olympics in a row Canada's Marc-Antoine Gagnon was fourth.

The third skier of the final six down the Bokwang Snow Park course, 23-year-old Graham was in gold medal position before Sochi 2014 silver medallist Kingsbury weaved his magic in -11 degree temperatures.

Matt Graham came second and fourth during qualifying runs. Photo: AP

Kingsbury has been the undisputed star of the sport since the 2010 Winter Olympics, with six overall World Cup titles and 48 wins placing him as the greatest moguls skier of all time.

A rare wobble cost him in Sochi, where Graham, was seventh.

Graham's Olympic success will come as no surprise to those who have tracked his career.

The Gosford product and University of Newcastle student has had 12 World Cup podium finishes including two wins in the Olympic format, beating Kingsbury twice in World Cups to the top spot in Deer Valley 2016 and Calgary 2017.

Graham negotiated the preliminary rounds safely, gaining automatic qualification to the three-stage final on Friday before coming through in second then fourth.

Matt Graham of Australia and Mikael Kingsbury of Canada celebrate after winning the silver and gold respectively. Photo: AAP

His medal completes an Australian moguls campaign hit by the disappointment of rising star Jakara Anthony and world champion Britt Cox finishing fourth and fifth respectively the previous night.

The women's result would have been cause for concern that the promising contingent were set to go without a medal in Pyeongchang.

Australia's men's campaign received a blow soon before it even began when World Cup medallist Brodie Summers failed to recover from a knee injury.

The 24-year-old lacked mobility during warm-up for the event in Pyeongchang on Monday and was deemed at risk of further injury.

Summers tore his ACL in September and was always up against it to compete at the Games, breaking down before qualifiers on Friday and failing to compete.

Rohan Chapman-Davies was the first Australian eliminated after finishing 12th in repechage, followed by James Matheson in the first stage of the final.

But Graham would not be denied, claiming his country's first moguls medal since Dale Begg-Smith's silver at Vancouver 2010.

Australian Associated Press

GOING TO THE OLYMPICS

This was Graham’s second Olympic campaign after coming seventh in his event at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, missing out on the medal round by just 0.01 points.

Supported by the Elite Athlete Friendly University Program, Matthew is juggling his sport with a double degree in a Bachelor of Engineering (Civil) and Bachelor of Business.

When Graham was picked for the 2018 Olympic team Elite Athlete Support Officer, Mr Andrew Yapp, said he is a good example of how high-level sport and high-level academia can and do coexist.

“Matthew is a shining example of how the traits of an elite athlete can translate to university study. Determination, motivation, focus and self-drive have not only allowed him to reach the pinnacle of his sport, but also to maintain an incredibly high level of academic success,” Mr Yapp said.

“Through its Elite Athlete Program, the University continues to support high-level sportspeople to balance the demands of International competition with tertiary study, with approximately 130 student-athletes participating in the program for 2018.”